American sailor arrested in Japan for attempted double murder of girls

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese police Friday grilled a 19-year-old US sailor who is under arrest on suspicion of the attempted murder of a young woman and a 16-year-old girl, a police spokesman said.

The sailor was arrested Thursday for allegedly stabbing the girl and the 26-year-old woman at an apartment near a US naval base in Yokosuka, apparently because the girl refused to have an affair with him, police said.

"The investigation over the case is continuing," said a spokesman at the Uraga police precinct in a port city of Yokosuka, which hosts the naval base at the entrance to Tokyo bay that is home to the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier.

His name was not released because he is under 20 years' old and considered to be a minor under Japanese law, the spokesman said.

The woman suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries while the younger girl sustained minor injuries. The